An Expert in His Field

Posted

Congratulations are in order for District Attorney Franklin McDonough as he celebrates passing a major milestone in his lengthy and impressive career.

In October of 2024, McDonough took the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Exam for Criminal Law after months of arduous studying and preparation, gaining an abundance of knowledge about not only state law, but also federal law as the exam covered both.

In the state of Texas, a lawyer cannot declare themselves as an expert or specializing in a specific area of law without taking and passing this extremely difficult exam.

“Every lawyer has to pass the bar exam to become licensed as an attorney in Texas,” McDonough said. “You also have to pass a professional responsibilty exam to become licensed. They are extremely difficult, multi-day tests that cover all areas of law. Once you become a lawyer and if you practice in a specific area of law and you qualify, you can sit through the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Exam. I believe there’s 27 areas that you can specialize in.”

The requirements to apply to take the test is a challenge itself, but it comes as no surprise that McDonough met the qualifications and had the support from those he has shared a courtroom with.

“After you’ve been practicing for a minimum of five years and have experience in a specific area, then you can take the test. For criminal law, you have to have experience in 15 felony jury trials and five felony appeals. You also have to have additional experience in contested hearings that can be verified. You then apply to take the exam and they see whether or not you are qualified and then you have to have a minimum of ten attorneys and judges who will write letters of recommendation saying that they believe you should be allowed to sit through the exam.”

“When you first think about those ten-in the legal business, we’re all trained in an adversary system, we’re trained to argue. To know that there were ten who were willing to write a letter on my behalf was amazing. And they all had to be attorneys and judges that I’ve practiced with and stood in front of in a case. My only options for attorneys were attorneys who stood on the other side of a criminal case. Thankfully, we actually have a very professional working relationship.”

McDonough was notified in July that he qualified to take the exam and had until October to prepare. After finding a study groove that worked for him, McDonough spent those next few months nose deep in law books and study materials, reading them cover to cover and retaining as much information as the human mind could possibly handle. 

“As a lawyer taking the bar, you’ve just spent three years in law school taking tests and being anxious taking tests, knowing that big test is coming. But every class ends in a major test so you’re used to that, so when you take the bar, you’re already in the habit of studying to take a test then you graduate from law school and you study for three months and you take this big test. I graduated from law school in 2005, so I’m not in the habit of studying. It took a huge amount of support to get myself back in the habit of sitting down at night and literally spending hours of studying. When I went on vacation this summer, I took my study materials with me and literally every moment I had was studying.”

By October 1, he was ready. 

“The test consists of three essay questions and you’re given three hours to answer those questions. These essay questions aren’t just straight forward here’s the question, now answer it in a paragraph. These are multi-part essay questions that will cover a topic and in criminal law, they will give you a set of facts that is three or four pages long involving some criminal act and they give you specific details about what happened during this criminal act and then it asks if you were a defense attorney representing the individuals in that set of facts, what would you worry about for your client? How would you advise your client? Then the next part of that same question is if you were the prosecutor, what would you file against the defendant? Then it’ll ask how should the judge rule? And you have to know both federal and state criminal law.”

With no study materials or notes allowed, McDonough had to answer these questions based on his knowledge and own experience, answering the questions in three different points of view. But the essays weren’t the only part of the test.

“You have 100 multiple choice questions that are based on both federal and state law and they’re very detailed. They’re not just based on general understanding, they’ll ask very specific things about very specific statutes. You can’t just wing it and hope you get the right answer. You get three hours for the 100 questions, and lawyers understand that when lawyers write multiple choice questions, they’re meant to throw you off and the wording is made to where they make sure that you know your stuff.”

While taking the test itself can be highly stressful as well as the preparation that goes into it, waiting for the results is often the hardest part of the experience, especially when the results take months to receive. By January when the results were promised to be sent, McDonough was checking his email multiple times a day, anxious to see if all of his hard work had paid off.

“When I opened the email, there was so much anxiety that I actually didn’t read it to see at first. I couldn’t say anything. But once I did, it was one of those moments of just total elation. I was excited like a little kid,” he smiled.

McDonough will travel to Austin in March for an induction ceremony where he will be sworn in as an expert in criminal law, a rewarding feat for not only his professional career, but for him personally.

“Specifically for me as a DA, it gives me the credibility and that is if when an officer or another lawyer or judge or government official calls and requests my opinion on any matter involving criminal law, now they have the backing of he is board certified in criminal law. Sure I practice criminal law every day, but now there is that board certification that says not only do I recognize that I’m an expert in criminal law, the State Board now says I have legal expertise in criminal law. I now have that higher duty of care and higher standard.”

Those who have worked with McDonough in any capacity and those who work closely with him every day in his office are tremendously proud and excited for him, but McDonough is adamant that their support played a major role in him passing the exam.

“My staff was very supportive and right before I left to go to Austin to take the test, they all said you better pass,” he laughed. “Which of course we were all waiting. It wasn’t just me. When I got my results, I sent out a big group text to let my staff know that WE passed. It was awesome. I could not have passed this without their support.”